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A study in the pragmatics of persuasion: a game theoretical approach

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Author Info
Rubinstein, Ariel () (Tel Aviv University and New York University)
Glazer, Jacob () (Tel Aviv University and Boston University)
Abstract

A speaker wishes to persuade a listener to take a certain action. The conditions under which the request is justified, from the listener’s point of view, depend on the state of the world, which is known only to the speaker. Each state is characterized by a set of statements from which the speaker chooses. A persuasion rule specifies which statements the listener finds persuasive. We study persuasion rules that maximize the probability that the listener accepts the request if and only if it is justified, given that the speaker maximizes the probability that his request is accepted. We prove that there always exists a persuasion rule involving no randomization and that all optimal persuasion rules are ex-post optimal. We relate our analysis to the field of pragmatics.

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File URL: http://econtheory.org/ojs/index.php/te/article/view/20060395/41
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Society for Economic Theory in its journal Theoretical Economics.

Volume (Year): 1 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 (December)
Pages: 395-410
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:the:publsh:211

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Web page: http://econtheory.org

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Related research
Keywords: Persuasion; mechanism design; hard evidence; pragmatics;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods and Programming - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information

Cited by:
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  1. Elchanan Ben-Porath & Barton L. Lipman, 2009. "Implementation and Partial Provability," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2009-002, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Paul Milgrom, 2007. "What the Seller Won’t Tell You: Persuasion and Disclosure in Markets," Levine's Bibliography 843644000000000045, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-14.

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